Zombies

II

Chapter 2: The Day Of

Ashley:

I woke up the next morning with a splitting head ache. I had drank far too much, especially due to my age. I was technically an underage drinker in the Americas, but not in England. None of my friends said anything though when I grabbed the drinks. I was almost angry with them for not stopping me. I lie in bed for several minutes, rubbing my temples. Eventually I rolled out of my bed, and squinted at my phone. It was already midday. “Ughh.” I went down stairs, yawning. “Mornin’ guys.” I smiled. They were watching the television intently. Louise was breathing nervously, and Jerome was rubbing her shoulders, trying to calm her. Mitch was studying the television intently. Ryan must of still been asleep. “G-guys? Is everything alright?” I asked quietly. Mitch turned and beckoned me to watch the television. The mutants had contaminated the doctors working with them, and the doctors had begun attacking other doctors and other patients in New York and Atlanta. “What’s going on?” I asked nervously. “The mutations! They’re attacking people. They’re gonna kill me-kill all of us!” Louise replied, crying. “I’m sure they’re getting it under control. Don’t worry Louis, I’ll protect you.” Jerome attempted to comfort her. I starred at the television in shock and concern. Mitch surprised me by embracing me gently. “It’s okay Ash. I won’t let them get you.” I accepted his act of kindness with ease, but eventually we broke away when an emergency alert made me jump. A red banner scrolled across the screen, announcing the locations of where the outbreak was beginning. The mutations were quickly expanding. The military was flooding in, but the infected people were stronger. “I-I need to walk away.” I stuttered, stumbling off, down one of the hallways. I walked past Ryan’s room, where I heard him speaking. I stopped, and stealthily eavesdropped. He was on the phone with his girlfriend. “No. No, I’m not coming back to Miami. No! You stupid bitch, can’t you help yourself. I’m not gonna risk my own life to help you. Just-.. Whatever, bye.” I heard him slam his phone down. I quickly scurried off, shocked by his anger. I heard him slam his door open, and he saw me as I tried to play it off as if I hadn’t heard him. “Good morning Ryan. Have you heard?” I asked meekly. He looked terrifying. He wasn’t the funny Ryan I used to know. He approached me, and I backed up, scared. He opened his mouth to say something, but another voice spoke. “Ash? You okay?” It was Mitch. “Yeah, I heard about it.” Ryan responded tensely, turning away. I slunk away from him, and stood next to Mitch. He provided a strange form of comfort. 

We decided that we needed to continue on with our regular day, including recording videos for our channels, but be cautious. After all, there were no cases of the infected in New Jersey. Louis refused to leave Jerome’s side, and I felt myself become rather clingy to Mitch. Ryan however, remained by himself. After we recorded some videos, we felt a little better, but remained rather restless. We kept the news and the radio on all day. I tried to move my flight back to England sooner, but every flight out of the county was filled to the absolute max. I was terrified.

Sydney:

I woke up, and stretched. It was fairly early, and Mark and Dan were still crashed out on the couch downstairs. I had had an abundance of fun last night. However, as the day progressed, the terrible news reached me. To my surprise, I took the news incredibly well, due to the fact that I had already accepted my fate in the back of my mind. Dan and Mark were as scared as I was, but they promised to not leave me. The mutation in Cincinnati had attacked three doctors, and they had all been infected. The entire hospital was isolated. Dan and I went to the local Walmart to try getting some basic supplies, just to be prepared, but chaos had fallen in my town. People would attack each other over a roll of toilet paper. Dan joined the riot, but I remained in the car, not wanting to cause any trouble. Soon, Dan returned with a basket. He was scratched and bruised, but looked proud of what he managed to snag. “Oh Dan! I’m so sorry!” I squeaked, gently touching his scratched cheek. “Don’t worry ‘bout it Syd.” He smiled cheerfully. “Better me than you.” I felt guilty for his injuries. We got home soon, where Mark was anxiously watching television. “It’s getting bad. The entire building is possibly infected, and some people are trying to break out.” He informed us. The breaking news showed shots of the hospital from news reporters and helicopters. Bloody hands scratched and banged at the windows and doors. It looked as if it had been pulled out of a really good horror game. “How far away is this hospital from your place Sydney?” Mark fretted. I couldn’t give an exact answer, but I guessed about forty five minutes away by car. “Damn it! I could be safely watching this from a ski resort in Colorado, but now I’m stuck in the heart of this.” He yelled, frustrated and terrified. Dan however, seemed to be calm, trying to appear optimistic. “Why don’t they just torch the place? It could help avoid…certain issues.” Mark continued.I didn’t respond to him. I was happy, in a sense, that my parents had left last night. I’m sure they regretted leaving me more than ever, but for now, they were safe. “Well, it’s a research laboratory. Who knows what chemicals are in there and how it will react. For all we know, it could burn down Cincinnati.” Dan answered Mark. I didn’t want to say anything, I just sat there in silence, eternally grateful I wasn’t alone. We spent the day drifting around the television, waiting for further news to develop. 

  Sonja:

Los Angeles was about to become hell. Screaming, crying and yelling filled the streets. Tucker woke me up hurriedly. “Sonj, get it up. Something really bad is happening.” His voice was nervous, but not panicked. It pained me to see him scared. “W-what? What’s going on?” I asked sleepily, sitting up. “I’m not exactly sure. Some sort of mad experiment escaped or something.” He explained. It took me a moment, but I made the connection with the mutation transport. I didn’t say anything though. Tucker was on his phone, looking for information. “Yeah, it says here that a mutated human attacked its doctor and escaped the hospital.” He paused, and glanced at me. I was shuddering with terror. “It is advised that we stay inside until the patient is caught and-“ He stopped speaking and hugged me. I began to cry silently. “Shh, its alright. It’s not like some crazy outbreak or anything.” He comforted me. And thats when Tom barged in, talking on the phone. “You sure? If you really think so. Well, whatever dude, you guys are welcome here.” He hung up, and took a deep breath. “So, you’re awake. I’m sure you know then. The mutation has infected several other people in the hospital and the surrounding neighborhoods, by violently attacking them and biting them.” Tom explained. I sunk further into Tucker’s embrace. “Anyway, Jordan and  his red-head girly friend want to come hang out here, since its more on the city outskirts.” He explained further. “You mean Aurey?” I asked. “Yeah, that girl. The one he’s always talking to. Anyway, we’re not streaming or anything today. We’re going to barricade most of the doors, so Tucker, I need your help with that. Sonja, I need you to hang around and watch for Jordan and Aurey.” Tom had taken control of the situation, so I went to wait by the front door, accompanied by Grizzwald, Tucker’s dog. I sat on the window seal and watched for them. Cars drove by furious, collisions occurred left and right. I could only hope they would make it here, alive, and not infected. I waited for a good hour, but suddenly, a car pulled up into the driveway, and Jordan and Aurey got out. I opened the door, and the hurried in. “Hey Sonja, you okay?” Aurey asked cheerfully, hugging me. Out of all the people I knew, Aurey was the least deserving to take place in this apocalypse. “Where’s Tom and Tucker?” Jordan asked shortly. I directed him to the upstairs to the boys. They began to plot what actions we would take if the outbreak continued to spread. Aurey and I were left downstairs to console each other. She grinned at me with optimism. “We’re in this together.” She said. “Yeah, but I don’t want to see my friends become infected and attacked by mutations.” I replied coldly. Aurey looked at me with a hint of sadness, and parted her lips to say something, but closed them a moment later. “I’m going to make the best of this, Sonja. I’d rather have a purpose to struggle through this with my friends rather than succumbing to the infection.” She told me, looking away.

We spent the day watching the news, praying for good news. However, the infection began to engulf the city. By late evening, I saw my first mutation, or as we called it, my first zombie.